Children of Time
This evolutionary sci-fi series begins with Children of Time, in which a terraforming experiment results in intelligent spiders instead of humans inheriting a planet. As a desperate human crew arrives, two species must navigate survival, coexistence, and communication. The sequel, Children of Ruin, expands the story to include uplifted octopuses. Blending biology, technology, and philosophy, Tchaikovsky explores what it means to be sentient—and what civilizations must do to share a future. It’s a deeply imaginative, thought-provoking saga of alien evolution and coexistence.
Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time is a sweeping sci-fi epic about the rise of a new civilization. As humanity flees a dying Earth, they discover a planet where uplifted spiders—descendants of a failed terraforming experiment—have evolved intelligence and complex societies. The novel alternates between the spiders’ development and a desperate human crew searching for a new home. It explores themes of evolution, empathy, and what it means to be human. With bold ideas and a richly imagined alien perspective, Children of Time is a thought-provoking, genre-bending masterpiece that challenges assumptions about intelligence, progress, and survival.